5 actors that played college football

With the movie "Draft Day" being released this weekend and the NFL draft coming up, here is a list of five actors who played college football.

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By Curtis Linnell

Examiner

By Curtis Linnell

Posted Apr. 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 10, 2014 at 11:20 AM

By Curtis Linnell

Posted Apr. 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 10, 2014 at 11:20 AM

With "Draft Day" opening this weekend, and the NFL draft right around the corner, we thought we would look at five actors that played college football. They wanted to be superstars in the NFL, but had to settle for being famous actors instead.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
"The Rock" played defensive tackle for the Miami University Hurricane's national championship team in 1991. Unfortunately, an injury sidelined his hopes of playing in the NFL. Johnson tried his luck in the CFL after graduation, but he was cut soon afterwards.
After football, Johnson turned to pro wrestling, which lead him in to a career in acting. He did play a pro football player in "The Game Plan."
"The Rock" earns more money anyways as an actor. He was named Forbes magazine's highest-grossing star, thanks to the $1.3 billion his films have earned at the box office in 2013.
John Wayne
Before John Wayne was a movie legend, he was just Marion Morrison, a strong USC offensive tackle. The rumor was that Wayne broke his collarbone while body surfing at Newport Beach before his junior year and had his football scholarship taken away.
Wayne quit college and went to work for a film studio and the rest is history. As if being the manliest man in movie history was not enough, knowing he was a USC football player just adds to the legend.
Burt Reynolds
If you watch college football, you will probably noticed that Burt Reynolds always seems to be on the sidelines at Florida State University football games. He is a huge Seminole fan because he played fullback for FSU from 1954-1957.
Reynolds career stats are not very impressive. He had 19 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns, six pass catches for 76 yards and a handful of kick and punt returns. He suffered a few major injuries that hampered his career. He was inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame in 1977.
Reynolds did get a chance to show off some of his football skills in the movie "The Longest Yard" where he played a quarterback.
Ed O'Neill
Remember Al Bundy always bragging about his high school football glory days? Well O'Neill actually played past high school and almost in the NFL. He played football for Ohio University for a couple years before transferring to his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, and Youngstown State. He was a defensive lineman for the Penguins in 1967 and 1968.
O'Neill was signed by the Pittsburg Steelers in 1969. He was cut before the season started. He was able to use his knowledge about football when he was a head coach of little league football team in "Little Giants."
James Caan
James Caan has played some pretty tough guys in a lot of movies. Well it turns out, he is a pretty tough guy in real life as well because he played football for Michigan State.
One of Caan's most famous roles is the part of terminally ill NFL player Brian Piccolo in the classic TV movie "Brian's Song." He is also the head coach of a college team in "The Program." Now we know where Caan get's his game face for his serious acting roles.
Honorable mentions:
Joel McHale – Washington University
Dean Cain – Princeton University
Ronald Reagan – Eureka College
Brian Dennehy – Columbia University
Matthew Fox – Columbia University
Carl Weathers – San Diego State University
Josh Duhamel – Minot State University%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D161335%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E